Following Comcast's acknowledgement that it had hired people to take up seats at an overcrowded Federal Communications Commission hearing at Harvard on Monday, the regulator agency is mulling whether a hold another public hearing on net neutrality.

F.C.C. spokesman Rob Kenny declined to speak publicly about the possibility of additional hearings, which were first reported on the blog Valleywag.

From the outset of the F.C.C.'s investigation, the agency had held out the possibility of further hearings on Comcast's controversial "network management" practices.

Portfolio.com reported that Comcast paid people off the street to show up at the hearing at Harvard, and that the event's organizer was not amused by the company's tactics.

The F.C.C. is reviewing Comcast's practice of slowing down or blocking the delivery of some internet content over its cable network. The company says it is engaging only in prudent network management , but critics have accused it of trying to hobble potential rivals in the video-on-demand business.

by Sam Gustin